Kyudo
by dunno why this is here
Summary: Response to gman391's 'Kitsune Acher" challenge. Naruto becomes one of the few ninja archers in history.
1. Chapter 1

Okay, A few words first. This is in response to the challenge by gman391. Specifically, the 'Kitsune Archer' challenge.

So, I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

**Prologue**

Sarutobi's headache only grew as he continued to ponder his...unique dilemma. The boy wanted to be Hokage. That in itself would be a nearly impossible goal, and yet that would probably be the easy part.

Truth be told, Hiruzen would rather that Naruto never became a ninja at all. He was the last of the Namikaze line, and the fourth's only heir. It was only after much prodding on the part of his ex-teammates that he agreed to allow him to join the academy.

Admittedly, Naruto was almost as close to a natural as a ninja could be. He was definitely one of the craftiest people in the village, or at least his subconscious was, and even without the Kyuubi he had huge stores of chakra.

But the fox was always the problem. Jiraiya had informed him about the seal shortly after he had retaken the mantle of hokage. He remembered the day all too well, even years later. In one of his rare fits of anger, he had made speaking of the fox punishable by death. Then, after going to the office for what he hoped to be to rest, he was told of something about the seal he would have rather have been told earlier.

_If Naruto is too injured or too emotional, the demon's chakra leaks out._ He chuckled inwardly to himself. _Considering his normal enthusiasm, it's amazing that we're not at it's mercy right now._

But, it also made his chosen career even riskier; a single slip could easily end the village before it's time.

Which brought him full circle. The boy would become a ninja whether the old man wanted him to or not. And as a ninja, he would be sent on missions. And during any one of these, he could be injured and kill his team and anyone around him.

Then, his mind came around to what he hoped would finally be his solution. The boy could train and become a ninja, but it would be less dangerous if he avoided direct confrontation. This meant four possible options. The first was to become a medic, though he sincerely doubted Naruto would be interested in this. The second is genjutsu. That was out; not that he disliked the boy, but he wasn't really the genjutsu type. The third was ninjutsu. With his huge stores of chakra, Naruto would be a natural at this. The problem came from the boy's own style; he was far too direct to be bothered with things like handsigns. And that left only one, final option. The boy would need to learn to use weapons, specifically at range.

But what would be the right style for him? It needed to be something, for the Hokage's own sake, that would force him to stay at range. It also needed to be capable enough that the boy could be convinced.

Shurikens came to mind, but were quickly dismissed. The idea of a shuriken expert was almost laughable; they were capable if used right, but they weren't lethal on their own. To anyone with experience, they were little more than annoyances.

Puppetry could be a useful tool, but was once again dismissed. He held no doubts that Naruto would have been a natural at this. After all, hiding was like a second nature to him. But puppet's were almost, if not completely, unheard of in Konoha. Finding one would be almost impossible, let alone convincing him of the use of one.

This left him with only one true option. A bow.

The weapon itself was easy to obtain, and only really required a new drawstring and some arrows to maintain. They were a decent enough weapon that Naruto wouldn't argue. Or at least, not after a demonstration.

* * *

"Gramps, you sure about this?" Naruto was clearly unimpressed. The 'hunk of wood' the old man was holding was about as underwhelming of a ninja tool as he could imagine. But when he was told that it could help him become hokage, his own curiosity wouldn't let him back away.

That, and that the old man was about the only one in the village who treated him like a normal person.

The two stood in a field in the middle of the woods, where a target had been nailed to a tree. "Now then, I believe I should at least show you what this is capable of before I leave you alone." On finding the boy, yet another thought had managed to break into his head. The more time he spent training, the less time he had to spend on pranks.

The blond, of maybe eight years old, merely nodded. It was bad enough that he was caught before he even finished setting everything up to get that shopkeeper back for kicking him out. He liked the old man, he was as close as family as he knew, but that doesn't mean that he wanted to be out in the woods, watching as he demonstrated a weapon he had never seen a ninja use in his life.

Or at least, uninteresting until the Hokage actually fired. Naruto watched in awe as the arrow hit the target dead center, then continued going through the tree behind it. It finally stopped around ten feet later, lodged several inches into the NEXT tree.

Naruto sat for a few seconds in awe. The next moment would forever alter the path of his career.

"That...was...AWESOME!!! SHOW ME HOW YOU DID THAT!!!"

The old man smiled at his success, as he handed the child the bow. He wouldn't tell him, of course, that he had really used chakra to enhance the bolt's power. He would need to learn that on his own.

"Alright! Now to...how do I hold this?" Sarutobi crouched down to the boys level before grabbing his arms and repositioning them.

"Now, take the arrow, pull back, aim at the target, exhale, and let go." The boy picked up an arrow from the ground before going back to the position that Sarutobi taught him. He pulled back as far as he could, which was barely over an inch. And so, when he fired, the arrow did little more than fall clumsily to the ground.

"GAH! There has to be some sort of trick!" Yelled Naruto, throwing his new 'weapon' to the ground.

"Now now, it just takes practice." He turned to walk away, but stopped for a second to look over his shoulder. "I believe in you."


	2. Chapter 2

Alright, first actual chapter. Hooray.

* * *

It was abnormally cold that morning. Or at least, that's what the few people who didn't stop to stare at him seemed to talk about. He didn't notice, his orange jacket shielding him from the cold air. As for why they were staring at him, he knew it was because of the piece of metal wrapped around his head.

He had gained his hitai-ate only the previous night, after beating Mizuki into the ground in anger. Apparently the news hadn't traveled completely throughout the village, because he could hear a number of people whispering about how he must have stolen, and even a few considering whether or not to stop him.

He did his best to ignore their remarks as he made his way towards the hokage tower. He had gotten up especially early for this. He would have at least an hour before he had to get to the academy. And if he could learn to use kage bunshin in only a few hours, than that arrow trick couldn't possibly take very long. Readjusting the bow hanging from his shoulder, he walked into the huge building.

* * *

"What do you mean 'he's busy'!!!" The guards had long since gotten used to this. Naruto had a habit of coming here at least once a week, each time for the same reason.

"He's in an important meeting right now regarding a recent mission." Taking a quick look to make sure no one was watching, Kotetsu bent down to Naruto's level. "Please don't break in again. Last time we ended getting blamed and stuck with D-rank missions for a week."

"Just go, please." Izumo added, though it sounded more like a question than an order. Naruto just looked at them for a second before turning around.

"Yeah, alright." He walked off, leaving the two guards with a surprised look on their face. "I've got some other stuff for today, anyway."

* * *

Naruto zoned in and out. He was surprised that the Hokage was actually talking about his graduation, but he barely paid attention. He had figured that the meeting wouldn't take long, but instead he had already lost track of how long he had been sitting outside the window.

"C'mon old man, just finish up already." He muttered under his breath. Then, he heard it.

"Well, I suppose the details are in that file that I gave you. Dismissed." After some footsteps and a door closing, Sarutobi started back up. "Come in, Naruto."

The genin gulped before peeking around the corner. Sarutobi was sitting calmly behind his desk, staring straight ahead. "Heh...hey..."

"Naruto, you need to stop breaking into my office." His words were steady, perfectly calm. Truth be told, he had seen this coming.

Naruto hesitantly climbed through the window. He definitely hadn't planned this out very far.

"Now then, why are you here?" _Here it comes..._

The blonde suddenly got his nerve back. The change in his demeanor was noticeable. "Oh yeah! Teach me that jutsu! The one you used before!"

Hiruzen just sighed. Every since that day he first gave Naruto his bow, he had been practically BEGGING to learn how he had done it. "Naruto, do you know what time it is?"

"But you said...what?" That was definitely not the kind of response he was expecting.

"I believe that the academy is going to be starting in less than ten minutes." For the first time since he had arrived, the Hokage looked at him. "I know you've skipped class before, but it may not be a good idea to be late. Especially considering what today is."

Naruto was frozen for a second, before he went screaming back out the window. "Oh crap! I'll be back! You can count on it!"

And with that, he finally let out the breath he had been holding in. _Maybe I AM getting to old for this..._"Izumo, Kotetsu, could you come in for a second?"

* * *

_Yes, made it__!_ Naruto rushed up the stairs of the classroom. He was the last one to show up in the entire class. He took a quick glance around the room. Sakura and Ino were fighting over who would sit next to Sasuke, who was looking out the window, as if oblivious to the actions of the two next to him. The only seat left was next to Kiba, which probably wouldn't end well. He barely even made it halfway there when his 'friend' started yelling at him, drawing the attention of the entire room, save Sasuke.

"Hey failure, you can't be here without passing the exam!"

"What do you think this is!" Naruto hollered back, pointing at his hitai-ate. Then, he aimed his finger at the dog-boy. "I'm gonna be Hokage someday! And if I'm a failure, where does that leave you, 'cuz I could kick your ass any day of the week!"

At that, Kiba stood up and started running across the desks, followed by Akamaru. The two may have been friends, but there was still a matter of pride. He landed next to the blond before whispering in his ear, "You wanna bet, failure?" At that, Naruto reached for his bow and began to remove it from his back. It was then that he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Naruto, Kiba, do I want to know what you were about to do?" The two turned to look at the chunin towering over them.

The two chimed in at the same time, obviously half-heartedly. "No, Iruka-sensei."

"Then go back to your seats." The two walked up the rows in perfect unison before taking their seats. They may need to be quiet, but that didn't stop them from glaring at each other.

"Now that that's over with, I would like to say congratulations to everyone in this room. With that said, it's finally time for your squad assignments. Each squad will be led by..."

_We know all of this. Just tell me who my team is already..._

"Team 7, Haruno Sakura, Uzumaki Naruto..."

"YEAH!" He practically yelled it, gathering a few stares. He glanced at Sakura out of the corner of her eye. By the looks of things, she had managed, somehow, to claim the seat next to Sasuke. However, her face was now staring pathetically at the ground.

"...and Uchiha Sasuke."

Her reaction was instant, as she shot into the air in an exact mimic of Naruto's earlier actions. Ino, on the other hand, was now doubly depressed. Having earlier lost the battle of the seat, she now lost the battle of the squad placement as well, having been stuck with a lazy Nara and an overweight Akimichi.

They were finally dismissed until the Jounin showed up. The teams would all be meeting together for lunch, meaning he could spend time with Sakura...

"Hey, did you forget about me already!?" Roared Kiba as he ran down the blonde.

"What? Oh yeah...ALRIGHT, you're on!" The two proceeded out of the door, but were met outside by two others.

"Kiba. We were assigned to the same team. We need to be together." Stated Shino, as the girl next to him, Hinata, stared at the dirt.

"Don't worry, this won't take long! I'll have him down in five minutes!"

"What! No way!" With that, they each ran a short distance away from the building, completely ignoring their two classmates. Naruto held his arms slightly outwards, getting into his 'ready' stance. Kiba crouched down and leaned forward, allowing Akamaru to run a few feet away.

"**Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"

Six Naruto's appeared around the original as Kiba sprinted forward in a low crouch.

"Are you joking! Bunshin!" Upon slamming into one, hoping to just run through, he felt the physical body slam against his skin, bursting on impact. "What!"

He jumped back to where Akamaru sat, trying to recover. _Alright, what just happened? That was a physical being, but not the original...and it had his scent...ah, he's got a nice trick, but it's not __gonna help him._

Once again, he ran forward, this time with Akamaru. Dodging a series of hastily shot arrows, the pair cut their way through the group, bursting the clones as they went, and heading for the center. "One left, huh. Guess this is it!"

Kiba's punch landed on Naruto's gut, only for it to dissolve into smoke. Surprised, he and Akamaru stood there, watching the area around them. _Okay, think. I can't sniff him out because these clones covered the area in his scent. But, he's got to be around here somewhere._

He heard a low hiss, followed by a dull thud. His neck snapped towards the source, spying an arrow embedded into the ground next to him.

"Alright, I win!"

Kiba looked once again, watching as Naruto jumped around on the branch of a nearby tree.

"Kiba. Now that this is over, our time is almost up. We should head back."

Kiba span around, glaring at Shino. "There's no way I lost to him!" Without warning, he went sprinting towards Naruto, seeing the orange-clad ninja drop down and hide behind the trunk. He separated from Akamaru as they saw two Naruto's break from the cover in opposite directions. _Hah! There's two of us also, you idiot!_

He felt his body catch up, the scent of his prey get stronger...and then break into a cloud of smoke.

After that, he had no time to react as an arrow whizzed by his arm and stuck itself into a nearby building. Turning around, he saw Naruto, bow outstreched, standing in front of the tree from before.

"You forgot something." He saw Naruto's face go from excited to confused. "AKAMARU!" A white blur shot out from his side, latching it's teeth around Naruto's arm.

"Gah, let go!" He shook his hand wildly, watching as the white object flailed around.

"That's what happens when you forget about Akamaru!"

* * *

I really wasn't sure about the ending of this. I rewrote it a few times, but never felt satisfied with it. Oh well, good enough, i suppose.


	3. Chapter 3

Well, this took forever to update..and it isn't even that great, mostly just taken direct from the manga...ah well. Here it is, in all of its...its...something, I'm sure.

* * *

Naruto rubbed his hand as he entered back into the room. Even a short glance made it apparent that although the teams may not have liked each other, they at least decided to sit together. He took the aisle seat next to Sakura, while Kiba, Shino, and Hinata took the ones across the aisle. If Sakura noticed, she didn't show the signs of it.

"Hey, Sakura! How was your break!" Chimed Naruto happily. "...Sakura?"

"Naruto..." She turned slowly towards the blond. "...WHAT!"

"Well, now that we're on a team together, I was wondering-"

"For the last time, I'm not going on a date with you! I'm going to go with Sasuke!" Her whole body span around instantly after saying the name. "So, how was your break?" Naruto's lowered his gaze at the rejection. He probably should have been used to it. He wasn't.

"Hey Naruto."

Kiba's voice was barely over a whisper as he leaned well into the aisle. "I need to ask you something."

"What?" Kiba looked above Naruto, who was now leaning to meet his.

"What exactly do you see in her, anyway?" Naruto tilted his head, forcing Kiba to answer the obvious question. "Sakura."

At that, Naruto's usual, boisterous personality kicked in as he sat up and practically yelled his response. "Sakura's smart, and beautiful, and strong!" He span around to his 'love', ignoring her as her face went from surprise to glare. "Now then, will you go out with-"

Naruto's head slammed into the desk hard as Sakura's fist made contact. "For the last time, NO I WILL NOT GO OUT WITH YOU!"

Kiba tried to stop himself before he started. _Well, I guess she's strong after all..._

This was the scene that Iruka walked in on; Naruto's head was practically embedded into the desk. Sakura was standing over him while shaking her hand. Meanwhile, Kiba's laughter echoed throughout the room while Hinata was trying to hide her concern. And sadly, this wasn't that abnormal by this groups standards.

"Alright everyone, I'm sure that your wondering who's going to be teaching you from now on." This got their attention. Or at least, it worked for most of them, which was good enough. "Team One, This is your sensei." A man poked his head around the corner of the room.

"Hey, you three." He pointed towards one of the random groups of genin. "Follow me for a bit, will ya?"

Naruto was a lot of things. Patient was never one of them. He wasn't sure if he had ever met his new sensei, but he definitely wasn't liking the signs. "How late is he going to be!?"

"Calm down, Naruto." Scolded Sakura.

"Everyone else is gone with their Sensei's! Even Iruka left!" Then, a grin came across his face.

"Naruto, what are you thinking?" Uttered Sakura. She had seen this face on the boy before. It wasn't a good sign.

"This is what he gets for being late." With that, he grabbed an eraser from the board and, with the help of a chair, squished it between the door and the wall.

"A jonin won't fall for that." Sasuke stated, the first time he had talked in the last half-hour.

Eventually, it was time for his statement to be put to the test. Naruto watched eagerly as a hand appeared in the doorway. As the door opened, the eraser fell, landing directly on the masked man's head.

"Hah, you fell for it!"

_Is he really a jonin?_

"I'm so sorry sensei, I tried to stop Naruto!" _That went better than I thought!_

"How should I put this? My first impression is...I hate you."

And with that, their thoughts came to a halt.

"Meet me on the roof, then." And with that, he walked off.

* * *

"Alright, tell me about yourself, then." Said the jonin leaning against the rail, sounding completely bored with the entire situation. "You know, likes, dislikes, dreams, things like that.

"Why don't you start?" Suggested Naruto.

"You look kinda suspicious." Added Sakura.

"Oh, well my name is Hatake Kakashi, I have no desire to tell you my likes or dislikes, dreams for the future...I have a lot of hobbies..."

Sakura's eye twitched slightly. "...All you said was your name."

"Okay, now your turns. You on the right."

Naruto adjusted his hitai-ate slightly before answering. "My name is Uzumaki Naruto! I like ramen, especially when Iruka pays for it. I dislike waiting three minutes for the ramen to cook, and my dream is to surpass all the Hokage's and have everyone acknowledge my existence!" An awkward silence covered the air for a second before the boy continued. "Hobbies...training and...pranks, I guess."

Kakashi stared blankly at the blonde for a second before speaking. "Next."

Sasuke was the one who answered. "My name is Uchiha Sasuke. There are lots of things I dislike and I don't really like anything. And...i can't really call it a dream...but I have an ambition. The resurrection of my clan and to kill a certain man."

_like I thought..._"Alright, lastly the girl."

Sakura perked up slightly, having been staring at Sasuke. "My name is Haruno Sakura. The thing I like is...well, the person I like is...uh, my dream for the future...what I dislike is Naruto." The boy's face fell slightly as his name was mentioned. "My hobby is..."

Kakashi didn't even bother to listen to the rest. Instead, he more watched for her lips to stop moving. _I guess girls of this age are more interested in love than ninjutsu..._"Ok, that's enough for the introductions. Tomorrow we start as Shinobi." Naruto's mouth moved. He didn't really pay much attention. He was easy to read, even without hearing him. "First we are going to do something with just the four of us...survival training."

"But why is our first duty training?" Asked Sakura. "We've had enough at the academy."

"This isn't your normal training." Stated Kakashi. "This time I'm your opponent."

"Wait." Started Naruto "So what is it?" Kakashi started laughing quietly to himself immediately afterwards. It was possibly the most emotion that he had shown the entire time.

"What's so funny, sensei?" Said Sakura, slightly unnerved.

"Well, it's just that when I tell you, you guys are going to freak out." Suddenly, his voice became far more serious. "Of the twenty-seven graduates, only nine will become genin, and the rest are sent to the academy. This 'training' is an exam with a failure rate of over sixty-six percent."

"!!!"

"wha-"

"..."

"I told you that you'd freak out!"

Naruto snapped himself out of his surprise in a burst of energy, catching everyone around him off guard. "What, no way! What was the point of graduating, then!"

"Oh, that? That was just to select those that have the chance to become genin. Anyway, you have to show your real skills on the training ground tomorrow. Bring all the tools you have. Oh, and don't have breakfast, or you'll throw up." At that, Kakashi walked towards the genin and handed them each a piece of paper. "The details are on this paper, and don't be late for tomorrow."

And that said, there meeting for the day was over.

* * *

Okay, so... I would like to thank the following people:

for reviews: Griffin Blackwood, Geetac, Lyonnyte,

for...these are communities: Mirror of Style, We Love Het! Naruto:The Powerful, Diverse,and loved by his Harem Shinobi

for favoriting: AnimeSniper, BloodRed Wolf15, dabrain200, Destinyends, FrostbiteDarkfury, GameDemonKing, geetac, , Slvr0107, Soulblazer87, Tys1990, Yesz-Lim

for adding to alerts: AnimeSniper, blank142, BloodRed Wolf15, Bukama Stealth, Destinyends, dwennon, geetac, griffin blackwood, JackOfAllTrades-MasterOfSome, kid-fox, Lesychan, Lyonnyte, MomoTakashi, Neokyuubi18, Passionate-Eyes, SAVANI1812, Seiraku, TheLordOfPages1692, weirdgamer94, Wrathchylde


	4. Chapter 4

Okay, then. enjoy...i guess.

* * *

Naruto looked down at his stomach in misery. It was obvious Sakura was in a similar state. Sasuke appeared relatively indifferent, but upon closer inspection, it was clear that he felt the same as them. Every few seconds, his eyes would suddenly flicker downwards, and his hands would twitch slightly.

"Hi, goodmorning."

That was it, the final point. They had been waiting for almost FOUR hours, and all he says is HI!

Naruto and Sakura's screams rang out, almost simultaneously. "YOUR LATE!" Oddly, it didn't even seem to faze the man.

"Oh, well a black cat crossed my path, so..." He decided to take the moment to examine his situation. They weren't buying it. "Well anyway, let's begin, then." Kakashi removed a small alarm clock out of his pouch, placing it on a nearby log. "This is set to go off at noon. Your mission is..." He reached pack into his pouch, this time creating a distinct jingling sound. "...to recover these bells from me before time runs out. Those who don't do that don't get lunch. Instead, I'll tie you to one of those stumps and eat right in front of you."

"You only need to get one bell. There's only two, so one of you will definitely get tied to a stump. That person will then be sent back to the academy. You won't succeed unless you come at me with the intent to kill."

"Yeah right!" Yelled Naruto, seemingly at ease. "You couldn't even dodge an eraser!" Kakashi's eye drooped slightly at the remark.

"Those who bark loudest tend to have no talent. Anyway, we'll start when I say-" He didn't finish his sentence, as Naruto quickly removed the bow from his back. Just as he reached for an arrow, however, he felt a hand grab his arm. It took a second for him to fully realize that Kakashi was suddenly gone from in front of him. "I haven't said start yet, but at least you seem serious. Well then, ready, set, BEGIN!"

* * *

Kakashi stood in the middle of a large clearing. To an untrained eye, he seemed perfectly at ease. In reality, he was scanning his surroundings, watching for even the slightest movement. _They all seem well enough hidden..._

"HEY, COME HERE AND FIGHT ME!"

It took almost no effort to find the source; Naruto. "Uh, your a bit off. And shouldn't you have your bow...ready?" It was true. Hanging over his right shoulder was his bow, right next to his quiver.

"WELL TAKE THIS, THEN!" That was when Kakashi heard it, a low whistling sound coming from his left; an arrow.

_Distracting me with himself while using a clone to attack my blind side...not bad, but not the kind of teamwork I was looking for..._ Kakashi was expecting that to have been the end of it, but Naruto suddenly formed a strange seal; a cross with his fingers.

"**Ya Kage Bunshin no Jutsu!**"(Arrow Shadow Clone)

Suddenly, the single whistle noise turned into several, as the arrow multiplied itself into five. Of course, Kakashi made no effort to move. There really wasn't a point in protecting a log.

Naruto watched as the arrows smacked into their target. He almost started to celebrate, when he noticed 'Kakashi' disappear, leaving only a cleanly cut stump in it's place. Suddenly frantic, he began spinning around, looking for even the faintest hint of his opponent.

"Hey, let me down!"

Naruto jumped before stumbling forward. Not three feet behind him stood Kakashi. In one hand, he held the clone, tucked under an arm. In the other was a small orange book, which was one eye stared at blankly.

"Not bad." the jonin started. "But I have a few tricks too." With that, both him and the Naruto clone each disappeared into a cloud.

"GAH!"

_

* * *

Okay, not a bad start..._ Kakashi looked down from his tree towards his next victim. _Lets see how she handles this._ Acting slow, Kakashi created a bunshin to walk past Sakura's position as a distraction.

"Alright there he is." He heard her whisper to herself as she prepared to make her move. Seemed as good a time to attack as any.

"Sakura, behind you." She quickly span her neck to where he was, directly behind her. Before she could react, however, he suddenly disappeared, scattered into the leaves.

"What's going on..." Sakura watched as the leaves span around her, like a tornado, before finally blowing away. "...where's sensei?"

"...Sakura."

_That voice!_ She looked over her shoulder quickly. "Sasuke!" However, what she saw was hardly even identifiable as Sasuke.

His entire body was covered in blood. Weapons were poking out of every inch of his body, including a kunai lodged into his cheek. One of his legs was completely twisted to the point that the foot was facing straight upwards as he leaned against a tree. Worst, his left arm was missing from the elbow down. In his attempt to speak, his voice came as little more than a whisper. "Help me...Sakura..."

* * *

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

Naruto instantly stopped his hunt for Kakashi upon hearing the yell, concentrating on a new target. "SAKURA!"

He began a mad dash through the trees, trying to find the source of the scream. He only paused for a second, in an attempt to contact her. "SAKURA!"

It took a few minutes, but he managed to find her. "SAKURA!" He ran over to where she was laying, her arms folded to her chest as she foamed at the mouth.

_What did he DO to you!_ Naruto wasn't entirely sure what he should do, so he did the first thing that came to his mind. Propping her up for a second, he grabbed both of her shoulders and started shaking her back and forth, her head violently whipping around with each motion. "SAKURA!!! WAKE UP!!"

"...Naruto..."

He stopped as soon as he heard her voice. For the split-second before he saw her face, he was happy. After that, he realized how pissed she really was.

"SHUT UP!!!" As soon as the words past through her lips, his face met dirt. "STOP YELLING IN MY EAR!" Naruto's face slowly turned upwards.

"S-sorry, Sakura..." Placing his hands firmly below him, he picked himself off of the ground.

"Well...Thanks for the help, anyways." She turned around, intending to leave him there. However, he started talking again before she could even take a step.

"Hey, Sakura, I have an idea."

As someone who had been struggling to come up with a plan for a long time, this caught her attention.

"Why don't we both go after him. That way, it's just us who pass, and not 'Sasuke.'"

"No way! I'm not going to do that to Sasuke!" _But that's not a bad idea though. Maybe I could go ask Sasuke! Then he'll have to notice me!_

With her mind set, Sakura began to walk away. However, her steps were suddenly beset by yet another interruption; an alarm clock.

_BRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING_

Both of the student's heads suddenly dropped in perfect unison.

* * *

Kakashi had been late twice already. The first was when they were first assigned together. While none of his new students had been happy, it was excused. After all, things happen.

The second was only earlier that morning. They were definitely annoyed, but once again, it was passable. Not the best second impression ever, but passable.

This time, however, there was no way he could manage to talk his way out. There was no way that he could get lost or sidetracked this time. And the fact that Sasuke had been with him only made it worse. It was obvious to all of them that they failed; why prolong it?

Naruto and Sakura arrived back at the three poles first, heads held low. Sasuke arrived much later, covered in dirt.

"Hey, Sasuke! What happened to you!" Naruto had yelled, to which Sasuke responded.

"Shut up, failure."

And that was it for there conversation. Anything that Naruto would have liked to say was completely lost from the noise coming from his stomach.

When Kakashi finally showed up, over a half hour later, he didn't even bother to give an explanation.

"Well, none of you are going back to the academy." There was a second where the mood seemed to lighten. Then it was gone. "You three should all quit being ninjas."

His words were completely casual, which was the exact opposite of his student's.

"Alright, so we didn't pass!" Roared Naruto. "Why should we quit!"

"Because none of you deserve to be ninjas."

A split second later, Sasuke was sprinting towards the jounin. The next, he was laying flat on his stomach, a foot stepping down on the back of his neck.

"That's why you should quit. Do any of you even get the answer to this test?"

Sakura and Naruto looked at each other, before speaking simultaneously. "Answer?"

"Teamwork. If you had worked together, you might have gotten the bells."

"B-but." Sakura began to stammer. Before, when she was sure she had lost, she would have just kept quiet. Now, however, she still felt the need to argue it. "There's only two bells! If we worked together, than one of us still would have failed!"

"Yeah, that's the point. To see if any of you will set your own interests aside and work together. Instead...Naruto, you rushed in head on. Sasuke, you tried to do everything on your own. Sakura, you were so concerned for Sasuke you never even made an attempt. The duties of a ninja are done by a team. Individual ability is important, but even more important is teamwork."

Kakashi stood up, releasing Sasuke from his hold. Casually, he walked towards a monument, oddly placed in the middle of their training area. "On this stone is a list of names. These are ninja who have been recognized as heroes." The three stared at him, waiting for him to finish. "Each of them died on the line of duty. It's a memorial."

"I'll give you one more chance after lunch, but it'll be harder for you to get the bells. Sakura." He turned back towards his pupils. "Since you performed the worst, I'm going to have to tie you up. Also, you don't get a lunch. If either of you try to feed her, you will fail. Got it?"

* * *

"Well...I guess I'm on a diet, after all..." Despite her words, Sakura's tone gave her away, as well as the noise coming from her stomach.

Naruto stared down at the box in front of him. He wanted it...badly. In fact, it was amazing that his wasn't already gone. And yet...he couldn't help but stare at Sakura, her eyes looking down at the dirt. He span his head around, showing pretty much no subtlety. Not seeing Kakashi nearby, he stood up, holding his box out towards Sakura.

He dropped his voice as low as possible. "Hey. Psst. Sakura."

"Huh?"

"Here. Eat quick. He might be back soon."

"Naruto. What are you doing?" Sasuke looked over at the two, then down at his own food. "If you don't eat any, it won't be any better that Sakura starving."

"Yeah, so what? I'm not going to have Sakura to watch us eat."

He picked up his box, already half gone, and held it towards his teammate. "Here. You should take what's left. If we need to work together, then being weakened won't help."

Naruto could only stare. He really hadn't expected Sasuke to do...well...anything. As far as he could ever tell, Sasuke was just some moody idiot who somehow managed to gather the attention of the entire female portion of their class.

"Thanks..." He grabbed the box, slowly. Not that he distrusted Sasuke, he just didn't understand why he would suddenly do something so...nice.

Before he got the chance to actually EAT any, however, he was stopped by a sudden booming voice from somewhere to his left.

"YOU GUYS!!!" Kakashi burst out from the treeline, a huge cloud of smoke following behind him. "...pass."

It suddenly became dead silent, no one moving from their respective positions. Kakashi stood directly in front of Sakura, leaning over slightly. Sasuke held an arm over his face protectively, his eyes peeking out from under at the sensei. Sakura's head was twisted to the side, but her eyes were now wide open in shock. Naruto laid on his back, having fallen over from Kakashi's dramatic entry, which also forced him to drop the bento.

"What?" Sakura said it so quietly that her voice almost being covered up from the sound of Naruto sitting up. "...But we haven't done anything yet."

Kakashi stood up straight. "You guys are the first ones to pass. The other students were just morons, doing whatever I said. Ninjas need to see underneath the underneath. Those who break the rules and codes of the ninja world are trash, but those who don't care about their teammates are lower than trash."

"YEAH!" If Sakura could have covered her ears, she probably would have. Instead, the ropes prevented her, andNaruto's voice went unimpeded directly into her ear. "I DID IT!"

"NARUTO, SHUT UP AND UNTIE ME!"

"Oh...right." He stood up, removing a kunai from his pouch, and began to cut the ropes binding her to the stump.

"Careful..."

* * *

All in all, this was a good day for Naruto. Kakashi, even if he was a bit demented, seemed okay. Sakura passed with him, which meant they would be on the same team. Sasuke, even if he a bit annoying, at least seemed bearable. And best of all, he would be starting missions the next day.

* * *

Once again, i have a thanks list.

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Alright. now that that's over with...

I tried to not make it seem like i was trying to bash Sakura. I don't think i succeeded in that, but oh well. Writing beginning Sakura as not annoying is like writing Tayuya or Hidan without swearing (I sincerely hope that's not a pairing somewhere).


	5. Chapter 5

Well, that was a bit of a break...uh, let's see...47 days-ish...don't blame me. It's the tornado's fault. Ruined my first con (colossalcon 9).

Oh, and some other stuff. Y'know, very vague.

* * *

D-rank missions. The foundation upon which all future development would be built, teaching all of the basics that a squad would need to know to survive: teamwork, coordination, and trust. The spot where every professional ninja truly begins their career. On top of this, it serves as a transition period, allowing genin to go from civilian to ninja.

At least, that's what Iruka had said. To Naruto, it went back and forth between laughable and boring. This wasn't what he had been expecting when he graduated. He had yet to leave the village, let alone to fight someone...unless you counted that fat woman's cat. It had put up a surprisingly good fight, though the reason was now perfectly obvious. The daimyo's wife was a pretty abusive owner, even if it was on accident. Still, when he was told he was given 'a dangerous mission in the service of the daimyo's wife,' that was not was he was expecting.

"Now then." Sarutobi stared intently at the list in front of him. "your next duty is...babysitting an elder's son...shopping in the neighboring village...help with the potato digging..."

"NO NO NO!" This was it, the last step. He had finally had enough. "Find us a better mission!"

Kakashi and Sarutobi sighed simultaneously. _Should have seen this coming..._

"Naruto, this village gets all kinds of missions, from assassination to babysitting." Started the old man. "These requests are given a rank from A to D based on difficulty. Your still a genin, so you get the D-ranks, and work your way up." Naruto, however, seemed completely oblivious to the old man.

_Man...I'm gonna get chewed out for this for sure..._ "Naruto." Kakashi looked back towards his blond student, who was trying his best to completely block out all outside noise. "You can at least pretend your paying attention."

The hokage smiled slightly. No matter how much time passed, the boy never seemed to change much. "Alright. I'll give you a C-rank mission...this time." Naruto's head span around, while Sakura, Sasuke, and Kakashi's eyes seemed to widen. "You'll be guarding an important individual."

"WHO! WHO IS IT! C'MON OLD MAN, SAY IT!"

* * *

"These all look like a bunch of idiots to me, are you sure there even ninja?"

To Naruto, this felt oddly like his last few missions. When someone else tries to explain what he was supposed to do, it sounds extremely exciting. And then he gets let down. Horribly. It seems about right that 'guard an important individual' would become 'help the seemingly drunk old man.'

"Especially the shortest one with the stupid looking face."

_Who's that... _Naruto turned his head to the sides. _ Nope, Sasuke's to tall. Is he grinning? Weird. Wait, was he insulting Sakura! No...so who is...oh._ Figuring it out, he was forced to take a deep breath. _Must...not...kill...drunk..._

"They may not look like much, but they are ninja." Said Kakashi, hoping to cut off Naruto before he exploded. "Besides, if anything serious happens then I'll be there."

The old man just sighed. "Well, I guess that's better than nothing. Well, I suppose I should introduce myself now. I'm Tazuna, expert bridge builder, and..." His tone suddenly took a nose dive as he finished, "...I expect each of you to protect me with your lives." Naruto could only gulp.

_Man, the old guy can be scary when he wants to be..._

_

* * *

My first time out of the village!_

For Naruto, this was a big, no, HUGE step forward. Sure, he got a crappy mission defending a rude drunken old guy from...well, he had no idea... but it marked his first real mission!

"Well, we're all here, so we might as well get going." Stated Kakashi, standing underneath the severely oversized gates of Konoha. After a few minutes of walking, Sakura's turned to Tazuna, intent on breaking the silence.

"So, are there any ninja in Wave?" The old man turned towards her.

"Nah. If there were, I would have asked them." He turned away for a second. "Would have saved me from walking all the way here and back."

"Sakura, how much do you know about the other countries?" Said Kakashi, his one visible eye barely even open.

"The five great countries are Fire, Wind, Earth, Lightning, and Water." Sakura's eyes closed as she talked, reciting from memory. "These countries contain the Leaf, Sand, Stone, Cloud, and Mist villages, respectively. They are better known as Konoha, Suna, Iwa, Kumo, and Kiri. Each of these villages is led by a leader known as a Kage." At last, she opened her eyes and smiled, turning towards her sensei.

"Correct. However, Wave is a small country. Because of this, it doesn't feel the need to maintain a village." His eye shifted from straight ahead towards something on the ground, and then at his student. "Of course, there's no reason to worry about running into other ninja on a C-rank."

As if on perfect cue, however, a chain suddenly wrapped itself around Kakashi. Everyone turned around just in time to see two men pull the chain, ripping him apart.

"One down."

Naruto reached for his back, removing the bow. Before he could grab an arrow, however, he became aware of a presence standing directly behind him.

"Two down."

Naruto did the first thing that came to his mind; he jumped and watched as the chain flickered directly below him, narrowly avoiding any actual damage. As he landed, he noticed Sasuke had thrown a shuriken at the chain, sticking it to a nearby tree, and was currently sitting on top of the two assailants claw arms. _I can't shoot, or I might hit Sasuke..._

Sasuke, wasting no time, placed his arms down and kicked back, knocking both ninja backwards. Recovering quickly, the two separated the chain connecting them and ran, one towards Naruto, the other towards Tazuna.

_Okay, clear shot!_ Naruto released his arrow straight at the one heading towards him, who deflected it without missing a step. Punching forwards, the strange claw scratched across the blond's hand that he was using to try to block.

Meanwhile, Sakura had positioned herself directly between the enemy and the bridge builder. The strange man never made it that far though, as a shape moved between the two, stopping the assassin and knocking him out simultaneously.

"Se-sensei!" Squealed Sakura. The man was staring at her, holding both of the men.

"Heh, looks like you three did well enough. Though Naruto, I probably should have helped you sooner. Looks like you got injured." With that, his eyes went down to the clawed arms from the pair. "These claws are poisoned. We'll need to remove it quick. Until then, try not to move too much." Walking over to a tree, he removed a rope from his backpack and began tying up the two.

Naruto, on the other hand, didn't notice. He was far too busy staring at his injured hand.

"Now then, Tazuna. I think you need to explain to us something. We were told to watch out for thieves or gangs, not ninja. This mission is at least B-rank, now. It's outside of our duties."

"Then let's quit!" Said Sakura, still shaken from her first fight. "We aren't ready for this, and Naruto needs medecine for his wound!"

"No."

The group turned, now staring at the blond, whose head was facing downwards. "W-what?" Stammered Sakura.

Without saying a word, he reached towards the quiver on his back, grabbed an arrow, and slammed it into his wound.

"What are you doing!"

"If I'm gonna be Hokage...then I need to do things that aren't easy..." Suddenly, he turned his eyes back up towards her, now filled with determination. "...that's why...I WANT TO CONTINUE THIS MISSION!"

Kakashi started walking calmly towards him. "That's great, but if you don't close that wound, you'll die from blood loss."

* * *

I didn't want the usual 'I do nothing in this fight' Naruto. I always thought it weird that he goes from 'more useless than Sakura' to 'charge the awesome missing nin with the huge sword of death that just incapacitated a jounin and can move fast enough that i can't see it over a headband.' I'm skipping a phase.

Okay, some thanks are in order, let's see...

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